[John Mearsheimer is the Wendell Harrison Professor of Political Science at
Chicago. Stephen Walt is the Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of
International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.]
Richard H. Curtiss, Stealth Pacs: Lobbying Congress for Control of U.S.
Middle East Policy," American Educational Trust, 4th ed, June 1996
Julian Borger, "The Spies Who Pushed
for War," Guardian, July 17, 2003
Robert Fisk, "A
Warning to Those Who Dare to Criticize Israel in the Land of Free
Speech," Independent, April 24, 2004
Rupert Cornwell, "Warmongers Prepare to Admit
They Were Wrong," Independent, March 9, 2006
Shmuel Rosner, "Harvard
to remove official seal from anti-AIPAC 'working paper'," Haaretz, March 24, 2006
[The furore ignited by two eminent professors from Harvard and Chicago who
have challenged the value of the US-Israeli relationship deepened on Monday
as the head of the Brookings Institute forcefully rejected their claims that
his prestigious Washington think-tank was part of the "pro-Israel
chorus".--Guy Dinmore, "Storm
intensifies over Israel Lobby paper," Financial Times, March 27, 2006]
Justin Raimondo, "The
Lobby Strikes Back'," antiwar.com, March 31, 2006
[President George W. Bush said a few days ago that, in connection with the
supposed threat of Iran, his concern is to protect Israel. Critics ask why
Israel should not protect itself.--William Pfaff, "Israeli lobby and U.S. foreign policy," Korea Herald,
April 6, 2006]
[From the left, Prof. Chomsky was not long in providing a subtle dismissal
of the paper on ZNet and on Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now! After a
perfunctory sentence praising the two professors for having raised the
issue, he writes, "we still have to ask how convincing their thesis is. Not
very, in my opinion."--Jeff Blankfort, "Yes, Blame the
Lobby," dissidentvoice.org, April 11, 2006]
Nathan Guttman, "Top White House posts go to Jews,"
Jerusalem Post, April 25, 2006
Molly Ivins, "Let's call
the Israel lobby the Israel lobby," Creators Syndicate, April 25, 2006
[Dore Gold, a former ambassador to the UN, who now heads an Israeli lobby
group, kicked off by unwittingly proving that the Mearsheimer-Walt theory of
"anti-Semitism" abuse is correct. "I believe," he said, "that anti-Semitism
may be partly defined as asserting a Jewish conspiracy for doing the same
thing non-Jews engage in." Congressman Eliot Engel of New York said that the
study itself was "anti-Semitic" and deserved the American public's
contempt.--Robert Fisk, "United States of
Israel?," Independent, April 27, 2006]
[ . . . the U.S. doesn't want an Israel truly at peace with the Arabs, for
such an Israel could loosen its bonds of dependence on the U.S. , making it
a less reliable proxy.--Norman G. Finkelstein, "It's Not Either
/ Or," counterpunch.org, May 1, 2006]
John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, "Letter: The Israel
Lobby," London Review of Books, May 11, 2006
Eve Fairbanks, "A hot paper muzzles
Harvard," Los Angeles Times, May 14, 2006
[The problem is simple: the Ugly American lives, and he's not a loud,
obnoxious tourist wearing Bermuda shorts. He's one of an endless stream of
well-coiffed U.S. officials traveling the world hectoring, lecturing, and
threatening his counterparts. He's an average Clinton or Bush appointee or
member of the "loyal opposition."
There seems to be nothing on earth upon which U.S. officials do not have a
policy, let alone an opinion. Uncle Sam joins God in counting the hairs on
everyone's head, in between watching the sparrows fall to the ground. In
contrast to God, however, Uncle Sam busies himself telling everyone else
what to do about it.
To back up its directives, since 2001 Washington has increased military
spending by more than a third. As a result, the U.S. now accounts for half
of the world's military outlays. America's "defense" budget now equals that
of the next 18 countries combined. American forces circle the globe via
land, sea, and air. Old bases dot the countrysides of Asia, Mideast, and
Western Europe while new ones emerge in the Caucasus, Eastern Europe, and
especially Iraq.--Doug Bandow, "A Foreign Policy of
Fools," antiwar.com, May 19, 2006]
William Hughes, "Should Noam
Chomsky reset his Compass," mediamonitors.net, May 24, 2006
Philip Weiss, "Burning Cole,"
Nation, June 16, 2006
[Ackerman is also a Congressional point-man for the "India lobby". A former
chairman of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, he
unequivocally backs India on Kashmir, lays all the blame for the conflict
there on Pakistan and pushes for increased US-India arms trade and military
collaboration.
In 2003, Ackerman helped organise the first-ever joint Capitol Hill forum
between AIPAC and AJC, on the one side, and the newly formed US Indian
Political Action Committee, on the other. Ackerman stressed the two
countries' common concerns: Israel, he said, was "surrounded by 120 million
Muslims" while " India has 120 million Muslims [within]". Last year, he was
the leading Democratic sponsor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's
address to a joint session of Congress.--Mike Marqusee, "India, Israel and the US," ZNet, June 18, 2006]
Max Hastings, "Israel can no longer rely on the support of Europe's Jews: The feeling
is growing that Jewish honour and heritage have been more convincingly
preserved in the diaspora," Guardian, June 20, 2006
["We became part of what is perhaps the most effective lobbying and
fund-raising effort in the history of democracy." . . . when Walt and
Mearsheimer published their bombshell paper on the power of the Israel lobby
in March, the Harvard Law Professor was their leading attacker.--Phil, "Dershowitz Contradicts Himself on the
Power of the Israel Lobby," New York Observer, July 5, 2006]
Glenn Frankel, "A Beautiful Friendship?," Washington Post, July
16, 2006
[Why is America so much more pro-Israeli than Europe? The most obvious
answer lies in the power of two very visible political forces: the Israeli
lobby (AIPAC) and the religious right. AIPAC, which has an annual budget of
almost $50m, a staff of 200, 100,000 grassroots members and a decades-long
history of wielding influence, is arguably the most powerful lobby in
Washington, mightier even than the National Rifle Association. . . .
The Christian right is also
solidly behind Israel. White evangelicals are significantly more pro-Israeli
than Americans in general; more than half of them say they strongly
sympathise with Israel. . . .
Two other factors need to be considered: the war on Islamic radicalism, and
deep cultural affinities between America and Israel. . . .
But the biggest reason why Americans are so pro-Israel may be cultural.
Americans see Israel as a plucky democracy in a sea of autocracies - a
democracy that has every right to use force to defend itself.--"Why
America gives Israel its unconditional support," Economist, July 16, 2006]
Andrew Gumbel, "America's
one-eyed view of war: Stars, stripes, and the Star of David," Independent,
August 15, 2006
VIDEO
(ORDER): "John
Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt on C-Span," CAIR, August 28, 2006
Norman
G. Finkelstein, "Beyond
Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History,"
democracynow.org, August 30, 2006
[Blankfort's list of 'Jews in media'[iii] enables an understanding of the
secret of Jewish charm, and it can be compared with a similar extensive list
by Prof. Kevin MacDonald of California State University.--Israel Shamir, "Midas Ears,"
jewishtribalreview.org, xxx]
Jonathon Cook, "From
the New 'Anti-Semitism' to Nuclear Holocaust. How Israel is Engineering the
'Clash of Civilizations'," CounterPunch, September 23, 2006
VIDEO: "The
Israel Lobby: Does it Have Too Much Influence on US Foreign Policy?,"
London Review of Books, October 11, 2006
[ . . . he was told by Amos Elon, the Israeli author, that when Elon had
asked an Israeli ambassador of the 1960s what had been his greatest
accomplishment, the emissary replied, "I have convinced the Americans that
anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism."--Scott McConnell, "Breaking the
Silence," American Conservative, November 6, 2006]
Stephen Lendman, "James
Petras' New Book: The Power of Israel in the United States," Global
Research, October 29, 2006
Jeffrey Blankfort, "Damage
Control: Noam Chomsky and the Israel-Palestine Conflict," voltairenet.org,
November 30, 2006
[The many controversial issues concerning Palestine and the path to peace
for Israel are intensely debated among Israelis and throughout other nations
- but not in the United States.--Jimmy Carter, "How I See Palestine," Los Angeles
Times, December 8, 2006]
[ . . . at least in the Congress, the support Israel has in that body is
based completely on political fear - fear of defeat by anyone who does not
do what Israel wants done. I can also tell you that very few members of
Congress - at least when I served there - have any affection for Israel or
for its Lobby. What they have is contempt, but it is silenced by fear of
being found out exactly how they feel.--"Former Senator Jim Abourezk on Chomsky," December 11, 2006]
Jim Abourezk, "The hidden cost
of free congressional trips to Israel," Christian Science Monitor,
January 26, 2007
[Most of the really good campaign firms are controlled by Zionists (read Tom
Hayden's article in Counterpunch). They function as money laundries, provide
expensive services for practically nothing, demand loyalty to Israel, walk
out in the middle of campaigns if candidates do not swear loyalty to Israel,
and as private consultants have great impact on reapportionment processes in
major states.--Peggy McCormack, "The Lobby
and American Campaigns," indymedia.org, April 13, 2007]
[The American Israeli Political Action Committee (AIPAC) which heads a
network of pro-Israeli lobbies, persuaded Congress to drop a provision which
would have required President Bush to ask for Congressional approval prior
to attacking Iran.--Badruddin Khan, "Congress Fold Again:
AIPAC Intervenes on Iran," counterpunch.org, May 26, 2007]
VIDEO: Marije Meerman and William de Bruijn, "The Israel Lobby,"
VPROinternational, May 31, 2007
Francis A. Boyle, "De
Paul & Dershowitz v. Finkelstein," cosmos.ucc.ie, June xx, 2007
[Libby served as the lawyer for Switzerland-based American fugitive
financier Marc Rich, aka Mark David Reich, who is also known to be an
Israeli intelligence asset . . .
In 1983, the then-U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York urged
jail time for Rich and his partner Pincus Green for racketeering. The name
of that U.S. Attorney is Rudolph Giuliani. Giuliani, who is now running for
president, praised Bush's decision to commute Libby's jail sentence. . . .
Bush was urged by leading Israeli government officials to prevent
Libby from going to prison.--Wayne Madsen, "Libby a
long-time Israeli intelligence agent," waynemadsenreport.com, July 6,
2007]
Ron Grossman, "DePaul pulls plug on controversial professor," Chicago Tribune,
August 28, 2007
VIDEO of Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer Interview: "The Israel Lobby & U.S.
Foreign Policy," I.N.N. World Report, September 28, 2007
[Freedom's Watch will sponsor a private forum of 20 experts on radical Islam
that is expected to make the case that Iran poses a direct threat to the
security of the United States, according to several benefactors of the
group. . . .
The idea for Freedom's Watch was hatched in March at the winter
meeting of Republican Jewish Coalition in Manalapan, Fla., where Vice
President Dick Cheney was the keynote speaker--Don Van Natta, Jr., "Big
Coffers and a Rising Voice Lift a New Conservative Group," New York
Times, September 30, 2007]
[Many of those who believe the Liberty was purposely attacked have suggested
that the Israelis feared the ship might intercept communications revealing
its plans to widen the war, which the U.S. opposed.--John Crewdson, "New revelations in attack on American spy
ship: Veterans, documents suggest U.S., Israel didn't tell full story of
deadly '67 incident," Chicago Tribune, October 2, 2007]
[It is impossible to understand AIPAC without understanding its precursor,
the American Zionist Council.--Grant F. Smith, "Where Did
AIPAC Come From," antiwar.com, October 9, 2007]
Dan Eden, "Dual
Citizenship -- Loyal to Whom?," viewzone.com, December 4, 2007
[IT WAS a triumphalist conference. Even this powerful organization had never
seen anything like it. 7000 Jewish functionaries from all over the United
States came together to accept the obeisance of the entire Washington elite,
which came to kowtow at their feet. All the three presidential hopefuls made
speeches, trying to outdo each other in flattery. 300 Senators and Members
of Congress crowded the hallways.--Uri Avnery, "No, I
Can't!," Gush Shalom, June 6, 2008]
[ . . . it would be unseemly to have U.S. officials subpoenaed and actually
put on the witness stand to reveal how Middle East policy is really crafted
in the height of an election season dominated by narratives of hope, change,
and restoring integrity.--Grant F. Smith, "Why Bush Will
Pardon AIPAC for Espionage," antiwar.com, August 20, 2008]
[Silverstein ran into another blogger (we're underfoot these days) who was
from Dailykos, the beloved left-Dem site. (I go there every day.)
Silverstein asked her whether the site ever covered the foreign policy
implications of the Israeli-Arab conflict.
She shook her head sagely and said: "No." I asked her why. "Because
thereีs just no upside in it for us. Too much dissension and
disagreement."--"The American Left (Dailykos) Also Is
Claimed by the Israel Lobby," philipweiss.org, September 21, 2008]
If Americans Knew
Council for the National Interest
